The invention relates to a weapon system carried on an armored vehicle for movement in the azimuth and elevation directions. Hydraulic motors and piston cylinder arrangements are employed in conjunction with an electronic control system to drive the turret assembly on which the weapon system is mounted through an azimuth or an arc in one plane, and a piston cylinder arrangement drives the weapon systems in the elevation, in a plane substantially perpendicular to the azimuth. As decribed in the detailed embodiment which follows hereinafter, a unique feature of the invention is the ability to control the speed and direction in which the weapon system is moved in the azimuth or the elevation in directing the weapon to the target.
An important consideration in weapon systems is the varying the speed with which the weapon is moved toward the target. Once the target is sighted it is initially desired depending on the the position of the weapon to move the weapon quickly toward the target. However, as the weapon system approaches the target, it is desirable to reduce the speed of the weapon system until the target position is reached. Often weapon systems of the past have not included this type of variable control and have resulted in overshoot and other inaccuracies and inefficiencies in moving the weapon systems through a tracking operation.
In the invention described herein, a servo valve sensitive to an electrical signal controls the delivery of hydraulic fluid to a piston-cylinder, hydraulic motor or other driving means to move these motors at a rate corresponding to the signal being delivered. Thus, where a relatively high current is moving through the servo valve the movement of the weapon systems will be at relatively high speed and as the current approaches zero the speed will be reduced accordingly toward zero. With regard to the azimuth drive system there is a two-speed motor incorporated in the system and connected to the electronic control for actuation by a relay. When the relay is tripped for a maximum speed, the displacement of the motor will be decreased so that it can move much more quickly than before. This provides a higher speed range for the control which is desirable where the weapon needs to be moved as quickly as possible to the target from a relatively remote position. Once the target is approached, the hydraulic motor can be shifted down to the range for normal operation.
The above has been a general description of some deficiencies which have existed before and some features of the invention. A more detailed description of the invention follows hereinafter and additional advantages can be appreciated from this description.